Agartala: With the Assembly election nearing in the BJP-ruled Tripura, political violence in the northeastern state has increased significantly.

On Thursday, several workers of opposition CPI (M) and ruling BJP were injured in a clash between the supporters of the two parties at Bishalgarh in Tripura’s Sipahijala district.

The situation turned ugly when BJP workers allegedly attacked the Left party members when they were retreating from a political event.

 “The BJP workers attacked our workers without any provocations and subsequently our workers also put up resistance. The ruling party is completely isolated from the public and this is why they are resorting to such fascist attacks on political opponents. They don’t know the language of democracy,” CPI (M) state secretary Jitendra Chowdhury said.

Describing the attacks uncalled for, Chowdhury said, “We had a pre-announced mass demonstration programme. We organized a rally in the Bishalgarh area that was stopped by the cops. To avoid any confrontation with the law enforcement agencies, we told the civil administration to receive our charter of demands at the place where the rally was stopped.

“The officials came and after a short talk, the programme was called off. But, the BJP-sponsored miscreants attacked our workers in different places after the event. Aggrieved to see party colleagues being attacked, a section of the Left workers retaliated which led to the scuffle,” he added.

However, local BJP leaders rejected the charges and accused the CPI (M) of creating unrest in Bishalgarh.

 “Two of our party workers sustained grave injuries. No one from the BJP did anything. The whole Bishalgarh saw how the Left workers wearing helmets and wielding lathis launched attacks on BJP workers,” said the BJP leader.